Your Daily Greens – Australia Takes Top Spot, Summit on Climate Change, and Bono’s Taboo

Photo: Loy Yang B power station in the Latrobe Valley, 150km east of Melbourne.

Daily happenings around the GreenSphere (People, Companies & Communities):

Australia Takes Top Spot: It looks like the United States has been dethroaned by our friends down under as the world’s biggest individual producers of carbon dioxide. Maplecroft, a British global risks intelligence firm, has placed Australia’s per capita output at 20.58 tons a year, four percent higher than the United States and number one on a list of 185 countries. Other countries rounding out the top 5 include Canada (congratulations!), the Netherlands and Saudi Arabia. However, China is still the world’s biggest greenhouse gas producer overall, though at just 4.5 tons per person – rocketing to the top of the list because of its huge population. This will make for a very interesting debate at the upcoming Copenhagen summit in December.

China Lagging Behind: Despite being the world’s biggest producer of C02 emissions, China is a long ways from demonstrating ‘green’ ambition at the retail level. A recent report by the CCFA – China Chain Store and Franchise Association – shows that it’s foreign retailers, not domestic ones, that are leading the way in environmental protection and energy saving campaigns. Lagging ‘green efforts’ by domestic retailers are blamed on the high cost of energy saving facilities and lack of maintenance and supervision.

Summit on Climate Change: In view of the immense task ahead, and the gravity of reaching a successful deal, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is convening a ‘Summit on Climate Change‘ ahead of the much anticipated talks in Copenhagen this December. In light of the finger-pointing, and the apparent failure of the Kyoto Protocol, evidently it is necessary to ‘mobilize the political will and vision needed’ to achieve an ambitious and effective outcome, which the prior Summit, to be held in New York, hopes to facilitate. Not a negotiation session in itself, the Summit is to provide a forum by which Heads of State and Government can discuss urgent issues and find common ground, and, ultimately, lay a foundation for cooperation in Copenhagen.

Bono’s Taboo: The hype around U2′s 360 tour has taken a green slant. The mammoth, completely extravagant, rock production performances include three 90-foot high stages, a 54-ton cylindrical video screen, and 500 personnel, all transported by 189 trucks and buses, as well as racking up 70,000 jet plane miles by the time the two-year tour is finished. Some estimates put the final tally of carbon emissions at 65,000 tons – a little high for a group whose singer, Bono, preaches social and political responsibility. In view of recent criticism, the band says it will address ‘green concerns’ and vaguely detailed a plan to reduce its environmental footprint, including using proceeds to fund carbon offset projects.

Tagged as: Carbon Dioxide, Carbon Offset, China, Coal, Copenhagen, Kyoto, UN